The District 4 school board election challenge entered Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge James Roberts' courtroom on Tuesday.

File photo | The Tuscaloosa News

By Stephanie Taylor Staff Writer | The Tuscaloosa News

Published: Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at 1:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at 1:13 p.m.

Andy Campbell, the attorney representing District 4 school board member-elect Cason Kirby asked a judge to dismiss Kelly Horwitz's election contest, calling it a “fishing expedition” based on “speculation and innuendo.”
Horwitz is contesting the results from the Aug. 27 school board election, claiming nearly 400 votes cast by University of Alabama students should be thrown out. Her attorneys argue that student voters did not meet residency requirements, and many voted after being offered inducements such as free drinks or concert tickets. Her attorneys told Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge James Roberts at Tuesday's hearing that, if allowed to question the voters under oath, they'll be able to prove those claims.
To succeed in their challenge, Horwitz's attorneys must prove that at least 87 votes cast for Kirby, who defeated the one-term incumbent 416- 329, were illegal.

Carson Kirby

Kirby's attorney said the Horwitz team didn't present specific evidence to prove each of the 397 contested votes were cast illegally, which was the purpose of the Tuesday morning hearing. A list of names is not enough to move forward with a judicial challenge, he said.
“What we have in this case is a trial in the newspaper. Accusations are flying around with no evidence,” Campbell, when asking the judge not allow the challenged student voters to be subpoenaed, said. “I ask the court not to turn this into a three-ring circus.”
The hearing was intended for Horwitz's attorneys to show the judge that they have sufficient evidence to proceed with the contest. Judge Roberts said he will consider the arguments and give his ruling soon.
Montgomery attorney James Anderson, representing Horwitz, said he expects, if the judge allows the challenge to proceed, a trial to be lengthy and include the testimony of up to 200 of the contested voters. Furthermore, any resolution, he said, is unlikely before Kirby is scheduled to take office on Nov. 4. Anderson said he would subpoena voters, determine through questioning that they were ineligible to vote and then ask how they voted, which is allowed by state law if a voter is deemed ineligible.
“You know that line in movie, 'You're afraid of the truth?' That's what they're afraid of,” Anderson said of Kirby's request to drop the case. “They don't want somebody to have to testify under oath because they know they'll tell the truth about what happened, and that this election that he 'won' is going to slip away.”
Roberts instructed Horwitz's team not to depose or obtain statements from students until he made a ruling, Anderson said. The list of contested voter names he filed last week was sufficient information to present at the hearing, he said.
“This is like submitting a witness list," he said. "There's nothing that says we have to have further evidence right now.”
What they are doing is asking us to try our case today,” he said in response to Kirby's team's claims that the list of contested voters is not enough to justify moving forward with the contest. “I've been doing election law for 30 years and have never had a hearing like this.”
Anderson said students have come forward, saying they were pressured by their fraternities or sororities' leadership to not only register to vote, but also vote for Kirby. Many students, he said, registered at addresses where they do not live and are different from the permanent addresses they provided to UA. Some were registered at addresses that are nothing but construction sites, he said.
Emails from chapter leadership to members of Greek organizations show that they were told to vote for Kirby and present an “I Voted” sticker in exchange for a free drink at a local bar, according to Horwitz's attorneys. The bars in question ultimately did not participate in the promotion, which Kirby's attorney say indicated they did not accept a bribe. Horwitz's attorney counter that the mere fact a drink was offered was enough to taint their votes and make it illegal.
The students who wrote the emails encouraging others to vote were within their First Amendment rights, Campbell said, and no different than any other “Get Out the Vote” effort.
“Character assassination is what this is,” he said. “They're attempting to disenfranchise a group of students, the Greek students, because they don't like how they voted.”
Kirby spoke briefly to reporters before leaving the courthouse.
“It's been submitted to the judge," he said, "and I'm just anxious to get to work."

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</style>Andy Campbell, the attorney representing District 4 school board member-elect Cason Kirby asked a judge to dismiss Kelly Horwitz's election contest, calling it a “fishing expedition” based on “speculation and innuendo.”
Horwitz is contesting the results from the Aug. 27 school board election, claiming nearly 400 votes cast by University of Alabama students should be thrown out. Her attorneys argue that student voters did not meet residency requirements, and many voted after being offered inducements such as free drinks or concert tickets. Her attorneys told Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge James Roberts at Tuesday's hearing that, if allowed to question the voters under oath, they'll be able to prove those claims.
To succeed in their challenge, Horwitz's attorneys must prove that at least 87 votes cast for Kirby, who defeated the one-term incumbent 416- 329, were illegal.
<div class="picture left" style="width:253px;"> <img src="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/images/9/97/Cason_Kirby.jpg" width="250" height="297"/> <br />Carson Kirby</div>Kirby's attorney said the Horwitz team didn't present specific evidence to prove each of the 397 contested votes were cast illegally, which was the purpose of the Tuesday morning hearing. A list of names is not enough to move forward with a judicial challenge, he said.
“What we have in this case is a trial in the newspaper. Accusations are flying around with no evidence,” Campbell, when asking the judge not allow the challenged student voters to be subpoenaed, said. “I ask the court not to turn this into a three-ring circus.”
The hearing was intended for Horwitz's attorneys to show the judge that they have sufficient evidence to proceed with the contest. Judge Roberts said he will consider the arguments and give his ruling soon.
Montgomery attorney James Anderson, representing Horwitz, said he expects, if the judge allows the challenge to proceed, a trial to be lengthy and include the testimony of up to 200 of the contested voters. Furthermore, any resolution, he said, is unlikely before Kirby is scheduled to take office on Nov. 4. Anderson said he would subpoena voters, determine through questioning that they were ineligible to vote and then ask how they voted, which is allowed by state law if a voter is deemed ineligible.
“You know that line in movie, 'You're afraid of the truth?' That's what they're afraid of,” Anderson said of Kirby's request to drop the case. “They don't want somebody to have to testify under oath because they know they'll tell the truth about what happened, and that this election that he 'won' is going to slip away.”
Roberts instructed Horwitz's team not to depose or obtain statements from students until he made a ruling, Anderson said. The list of contested voter names he filed last week was sufficient information to present at the hearing, he said.
“This is like submitting a witness list," he said. "There's nothing that says we have to have further evidence right now.”
What they are doing is asking us to try our case today,” he said in response to Kirby's team's claims that the list of contested voters is not enough to justify moving forward with the contest. “I've been doing election law for 30 years and have never had a hearing like this.”
Anderson said students have come forward, saying they were pressured by their fraternities or sororities' leadership to not only register to vote, but also vote for Kirby. Many students, he said, registered at addresses where they do not live and are different from the permanent addresses they provided to UA. Some were registered at addresses that are nothing but construction sites, he said.
Emails from chapter leadership to members of Greek organizations show that they were told to vote for Kirby and present an “I Voted” sticker in exchange for a free drink at a local bar, according to Horwitz's attorneys. The bars in question ultimately did not participate in the promotion, which Kirby's attorney say indicated they did not accept a bribe. Horwitz's attorney counter that the mere fact a drink was offered was enough to taint their votes and make it illegal.
The students who wrote the emails encouraging others to vote were within their First Amendment rights, Campbell said, and no different than any other “Get Out the Vote” effort.
“Character assassination is what this is,” he said. “They're attempting to disenfranchise a group of students, the Greek students, because they don't like how they voted.”
Kirby spoke briefly to reporters before leaving the courthouse.
“It's been submitted to the judge," he said, "and I'm just anxious to get to work."<center><p>***************</p><p><i>Reach Stephanie Taylor at <a href="mailto:stephanie.taylor@tuscaloosanews.com">Stephanie.Taylor@tuscaloosanews.com</a> or 205-722-0210.&nbsp;</i></p><p><div class="fb-like" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/tuscnews" data-send="false" data-layout="button_count" data-width="200" data-show-faces="false" data-font="tahoma"></div><i>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/tuscnews">Tuscaloosa News coverage on Facebook</a></i></p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/TNews_Steph" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false" data-size="large">Follow @TNews_Steph</a><script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');</script><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?screen_name=TNews_Steph" class="twitter-mention-button" data-size="large" data-related="tuscaloosanews">Tweet to @TNews_Steph</a><script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');</script></p>